The Requirement for Shipowners to Register in Order to Operate as a Brazilian Shipping Company

Understanding and complying with the legal and regulatory requirements contained in the numerous provisions of our scattered legislation, which can sometimes be confusing, conflicting, and even vague in their intent, demands a herculean effort from companies and entrepreneurs who, in the exercise of their related activities, are subject to the provisions of our Maritime Law, composed of laws, regulations, standards, conventions, and various international treaties. The waterborne transport of people and goods, whose regulatory competence today lies under the aegis of the National Agency for Waterway Transportation – ANTAQ, is no exception. On the contrary.

Understanding the legal norms and regulations governing it requires interpreting various legal and regulatory provisions issued by different government bodies and authorities, including international ones, which directly affect the activity of waterborne transportation of goods and people. What is analyzed in this context is the mandatory registration of the shipowner, obtained from the Maritime Court, to operate as a Brazilian navigation company. It should be emphasized that to operate as a Brazilian navigation company, whether in long-haul navigation, cabotage, inland navigation, or in maritime and port support services, obtaining authorization from the National Agency for Waterway Transportation – ANTAQ is imperative.

The requirements and other prerequisites, of economic-financial, technical, and legal nature to obtain the aforementioned authorization, are set forth and provided in ANTAQ Resolution No. 843, dated August 14, 2007. Before employing a vessel in the transportation industry, it is necessary for its operator to register in advance as a Shipowner with the Maritime Court, including in the case of a shipowner-operator, in accordance with Law No. 7,652, dated February 3, 1988.

The said law states that a shipowner is “the natural or legal person who, in their name and under their responsibility, prepares the vessel for use, putting it to sail or not at their own account,” as understood in its Article 16. It is certain that the lack of shipowner registration also subjects the offender to the cancellation of the authorization to operate in any navigation class, without prejudice to the immediate suspension of the traffic of the vessel in irregular situation or all vessels of the shipowner as the case may be, as provided in the first paragraph of Article 28 of Law No. 7,652/88, since merchant vessels subject to registration may only operate under the administration of a person or entity registered as a shipowner in the Maritime Court.

However, ANTAQ Resolution No. 843/2007 does not define the figure of the shipowner, although it exists in many other legal provisions, such as Law No. 9,537/97, which deals with the safety of waterborne traffic in waters under national jurisdiction, and Law No. 9,432/97, which regulates waterborne transportation, but it does define what is considered “owner,” regardless of their condition as shipowner, and “Brazilian navigation company,” whose purpose is the operation of waterborne transport.

What we can observe in ANTAQ Resolution No. 843/2007, in its Article 3, where the conditions for granting authorization to a Brazilian navigation company to operate are restrictively established, is that the company must meet the technical, economic, and legal requirements also established in complementary legislation, including the provisions of Law No. 7,652/88 regarding the mandatory shipowner registration. The takeaway from this understanding is that if the condition of shipowner (a requirement of Law No. 7,652/88) is not met, the company could neither operate merchant vessels nor obtain authorization from ANTAQ.

The same applies in reverse: if the Brazilian navigation company is no longer authorized to operate and fails to renew the authorization within two years, its shipowner registration may be canceled. It is important, in every respect, that companies and entrepreneurs maintain permanent vigilance in their procedures for the proper and regular maintenance of their authorizations and other necessary permits and registrations for their activities, thus avoiding inspection or punitive actions by Regulatory Agencies and other authorities in the waterborne sector, which, ultimately, may even lead to the revocation of their authorization to operate as a navigation company.